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I know it's an Insignia and thus generally falls under the 'not recommended' label, but from what I've been able to find, the Insignia NS-HTIB51A is pretty well thought of. Unfortunately, it seems that Best Buy doesn't stock the HTIB51A in store, but they do stock the HT511 (and generally I prefer not to drop >$100 on something if I haven't been able to hold it in my hands first). Looking at the specs, it seems to be almost exactly the same as the HTIB51A, but lacking the Audyssey calibration (which I gather isn't super-necessary). The speakers are exactly the same, and I believe the receiver is even Onkyo manufactured, but I can't confirm 100%.

Does anyone have any experience with this system? Is it considered good for the price/dodgy/serious problems?

This is going to be for use in a studio apartment with an HTPC, if that has any bearing on recommendations.

For a studio apartment the HT511 might be a good choice. The speakers only have a sensitivity of 81dB but that should be more than sufficient for your apartment, especially if you run them at 6ohms. The sub is powered as well so you'll get decent base (unless you like your fillings to rattle and the windows to shake ).

I have this system and I actually love it, however I may not be the best person to ask. I got the whole system for about 150 bucks. On top of that I was able to get two energy cf-50 floor speakers and an energy center for less than 200 bucks. Long story short my system is over 1500 bucks and I got it brand new for less than 400. I will say, every part of the HTIB is amazing. I use the front speakers as rear speakers and use the receiver and powered sub. Hands down it is the best HTIB I've ever used. Granted I have 1100 dollars of speakers I'm using with it, but I can easily recommend the insignia (onkyo) system.

So I've had the Onkyo for nearly two weeks now, and so far I'm pretty much loving it, but there is one minor problem: it takes four or five seconds from when the subwoofer comes out of standby until it actually starts making sound. Is this normal? It's annoying because some movies have extended periods of no real bass action followed by a sudden burst, and then back to nothing. Children of Men, for example has pretty much no LFE until the coffee shop explosion, and then nothing again, so the sub goes into standby during the opening, turns on at the explosion, but since it doesn't produce sound immediately when it wakes up, I don't get the full force of the explosion.

I'm not sure. My local Best Buy has it for 80 dollars, in fair condition. It says it has scratches, so I want to go to Best Buy to see how bad the condition is. I don't know if they have a warranty for opened boxed items. :O